It Didn’t Feel Like a Heart Attack

It was last Tuesday, April 21, 2020. My husband’s 55th birthday. The day did NOT go as planned to say the least. I had been sleeping upstairs again. I had been vomiting for the last 3 nights and tried to sleep in the recliner. It wasn’t working. I had not been able to keep anything down that day, not even a cracker. It felt like an Elephant was sitting on my chest. I did what I always do, I ignored my symptoms for 3 days. I had fever, chills, shortness of breath, headache, etc. Sounded like all they symptoms of Corona Virus.

Finally on the morning of the 21st I asked my Husband to take me to the Dr. I couldn’t deny it any longer, something was wrong. I had to call the Dr. ahead of time. With the Covid-19 outbreak you can’t just show up these days. We drove up to Madison and went to see the Dr. My husband had to wait in the car. They don’t let any extra people in these days. Crazy times.

I answered a plethora of questions from the Nurse and Dr. both. They wanted to test me for Covid. I agreed, however the Dr. said if she did the test it would be weeks before I got the results back. She suggested I go the ER and they had a test that had results back in an hour. I went back to the car and asked my husband to bring me to the ER. Thank goodness he is a patient man! He had to wait in the car again.

They started with the Covid test. Gotta love that big Q-tip they shove up your nose, not! I thought it was gonna poke through my brain! Then the bloodwork. That was painful. I was pretty dehydrated at that point and my veins didn’t want to come out and play. It took 4 different people 2 tries each to finally find a vein. Needless to say, I still have a lot of bruises.

Then they hooked me up to the EKG Machine. It didn’t look good. They started the Oxygen and the IV fluids. Finally, getting somewhere I thought. They took like 15 vials of blood. Tested for everything under the sun.

After about an hour the Dr. came in. He said it didn’t look good. My Tryptophan levels were through the roof, my heart was not beating properly, and I wasn’t going to go home that day. I phoned my husband to break the news. He had been waiting in the parking lot 3 hours at this point. I told him to go home and that I didn’t know when they were going to let me go home. But it wasn’t going to be that day. Happy Birthday Bob. ;(

He drove home while the medical team kept working on me. I had an ultrasound of my heart done, a CT scan of my lungs, and another EKG of my heart. After all that, the Dr. called me. Yes, they call you now on the phone, along with the registration people and the Pharmacist. It’s really weird. The Dr. said I was having a NSTEMI Heart Attack. That’s funny I thought, it didn’t feel like a Heart Attack. I didn’t even know what that word meant. I had to Google it. Which may I say, is NOT a good idea when you are sitting in an Emergency Room!

After 8 hours, I was finally admitted to the Hospital and got out of the ER. I have to say, it was the most organized ER I have ever been to. They had teams of people helping patients andI would definitely go there again. I had never been to that Hospital in Madison, WI before.

It was a long night. Lots of trips to the bathroom with all the stuff they were pumping into me. They added Heparin and Nitro to the IV. Not a good time. The next morning they told me they wanted to do an Angiogram. I didn’t know what that was either. More Google. Great. Lets take a camera, shove it up your vein into your heart and take a poke around. The week was getting “better and better”, not! Nothing to eat or drink after midnight they told me. Okey dokey.

I dozed on and off. At about 12:30 I felt it. A huge anxiety attack was rolling over me. Too many things to process in one day. My heartbeat sped up, I started breathing faster. I rang the bell for the nurse. She asked me what I took for anxiety. I had just started a new script that week for Lorazepam. I only took one and it made me so dizzy I almost puked. I asked her to call the Dr. for something else as I didn’t want to be that dizzy again. She called the Dr. and he said no, we can’t give her anything new with the procedure going on in a few hours. I got Melatonin. Didn’t help at all. I stared at the clock until 3:30 am totally freaking out. Finally, I feel asleep – for an hour. Then it started all over again. It was one of the worst nights of my life.

Wed morning rolls around andfind out my angiogram isn’t until 11 am. That means no coffee! Miss D is not good at all without her morning coffee, just ask Bob! I wait it out and finally at 10 I get to go to the surgery prep area. Finally. Let’s get this show on the road! They don’t put you under, I had a drug that relaxed me and a local anesthetic for the vein. I was so tired by that point I fell asleep. Thank you Jesus!

I wake up an hour later and was in recovery. The Nurse brought me crackers and string cheese and decaf coffee. That was the best meal I have ever had! I was starving at that point. They wheeled me back up to the top floor of the Hospital. I did have a great view of Lake Monona!

The Angiogram looked good the Dr. said. No significant blockages so he didn’t have to do the balloon thing. Praise God! I ordered lunch and proceeded to stuff my face again, lol! The Cardiac Rehab Nurse came in and shared what I need to do to get better. Exercise, eat better, lower the alcohol, you know. She gave me a file and said I could go home that night between 5 and 6 pm! Yeah! I called Bob, and he was there at 5 pm. The Pharmacist filled my new scripts and brought them up. What a relief. I was so happy to get out of there!

So here we are, 6 days later. I still can’t believe it was a heart attack. It didn’t feel like one. Like I would know – I have never had a heart attack before, lol! I have started walking my dog Max everyday for 30 minutes. We are changing our diets slowly. And I have to see my regular Dr. sometime this week. It may be a phone call, we will see. I have to go back to the Cardio Unit in a month for follow up.

Here I sit. I trust You God to get me through this. I have no control over this, I have to believe that God does. I thought I had Covid, not a heart attack. Guess I’m just gonna take it day by day. Here are a few songs that helped me today. I heard them on Pandora while walking Max.

Published by dianarasmussen

Diana Rasmussen is a Faith Builder, Worship Leader, Veteran's wife, and Customer Service Rep. At her blog Prayers and Promises she shares from her heart on how to find hope in this crazy world!
View all posts by dianarasmussen

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